


Beyond The Realms

by MikaKyuu



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Girl Harry Potter - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 09:04:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4095064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaKyuu/pseuds/MikaKyuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is an infinity of worlds, out there. Some last for billion of years, other die as fast as flies.</p><p>For every world there is a story.  </p><p>In one world Loki tried to conquer Earth, creating, perhaps unwillingly, the Avengers. </p><p>In another, he was exiled for ten years as a punishment to Midgard, just like his brother will in the future. There, he meets someone extraordinary, a child named Hayley Potter- the girl who lived.</p><p>This is their story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Hayley Potter, the famous Girl Who Lived, lies freezing in the Hospital wing at Hogwarts, 1000 miles away, her soulmate, Loki Odinson lies dieing on a beach in Norway.
> 
> Severus Snape is determined to save them both.

Chapter 1 

Hayley and Loki - Hogwarts

 

Hayley woke up, not sweating and dreaming of green light as always, but freezing and shaking from every point of her body. Hermione was really worried and looking at the other two girls, she saw the concern echoed in their eyes. Something was wrong.

After dinner, when Hayley didn’t even eat all that much, the girl came up and lied down, saying she had a headache, but that was three hours before and now she was freezing, even with the fire burning and four blankets piled on top of her.

“That’s it!” Hermione bit out annoyed, glaring at the girl on the bed, cursing inwards her stubbornness. “Lavender, go get professor McGonagall and Madam Pomphrey!”

“But Hayley said…” the blonde objected, the promptly shut up when she saw the dark look on the other girl’s face.

“Hayley is delusional right now and I’m not taking into account anything she says! Now GO!”

Hayley Potter, the girl who lived. Hermione read a lot about her and the demise of the dark lord, but while the books talked a lot about the actions of the madman, they were uncooperatively empty of references about the little girl that defeated him. So, it came as a shock when the small skinny girl introduces herself as Hayley Potter and become her first friend.

Hermione took one look at her slight frame and made sure that from that moment on the smaller girl stayed close to her and eat better, a little more every day. She wasn’t the only one worried about Hayley, Hermione thought with a smile, tucking the blankets better around her friend. Professor McGonagall and madam Pomphrey made sure – through some form of magic, no doubt- that the food around her was both nutritional and tasty. And strangely enough, professor Snape was around when they took their usual walk around the lake, right before the curfew.

The sound of steps approaching told her that the professor and the nurse have arrived and when the door opened a few seconds later, she rose to her feet.

“What happened, Miss Granger?” the transfiguration professor asked, while the matron drew her wand and started to cast spells over the prone girl’s body.

“I don’t know professor! She complained she had a headache at dinner, so she came up here to rest a little. But when I came up, she was like this, freezing!”

“Minerva, this is bad!” the nurse said shocked. “Her internal temperature is half of what it should be and in this rhythm she will freeze to death in a couple of hours.”

Silence descended at the nurse’s grim prediction but after a second McGonagall drew her strength and started to give orders in a strong voice.

“Miss Patil, go and announce the headmaster that we’re taking Hayley to the hospital wing. The gargoyle outside his office will admit anyone that comes in with a prefect. Take Mr. Weasley with you. Miss Brown, go to professor Snape’s office. He should be there at this hour and tell him I need the emergency kit, and to bring it to the infirmary.”

The girls ran to fulfill the orders given, Lavender looking a little upset she got Snape. 

Hermione had to laugh a little at the other girl’s naivety. Yes, professor Snape might be a little strict, but his classes had the potential to be the most lethal. And despite being the head of the Slytherin House, he was fair to all his students, no matter what the rumors said. 

Draco Malfoy found that out the hard way, on his own skin, she recalled with a smile. The blonde brat was all bark and no bite, as far as she was concerned, but he made one crucial mistake. He thought that just because Snape knew his father and was the head of the Slytherin house, it gave him free reign over the others. And strangely enough, he fixated on Hayley.

So when the dark haired girl wouldn’t even take him seriously, he started to brag about his father’s money and wealth, escalating the insults when Hayley kept ignoring him, until he almost cursed her.

His bad luck seemed to hold, because just when the curse passed his lips, Snape turned the corner towards the great hall and intervened. He cast a shield charm, completely stopping the curse and quickly put the boy in a full body bind. Hermione wasn’t sure what happened after, but a quick search made her glad Snape turned up when he did. The curse was meant to break slowly and painfully every bone in the body of the victim. She guessed either Malfoy was really weak with his cursing or Snape was really good with his shielding, because that particular curse at full power shouldn’t be stopped by a simple shield charm.

What happened after that, Hermione couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that the headmaster was involved and Malfoy’s parents, so most likely the brat was threatened with expelling if he doesn’t stop with everything. From that day on, Malfoy stopped insulting everyone actually.

Now, the girl that would smile so gently at Hermione’s crazy ideas was pale, shaking and fighting for her life, gently being levitated by professor McGonagall towards the fireplace.

“I’m coming with you!” Hermione announced, staring straight at professor McGonagall.

The professor quickly measured her and told her to get dressed first and then come in the infirmary. Hermione obeyed and when she arrived, both professor McGonagall and Snape were there, looking worried towards the last bed.

Severus Snape knew he was a moron, a stupid moron actually, but that was something he gotten used to for some time now. He had no idea how he should behave. The small sickly child on the last bed was the last remaining link connecting him with his best friend, Lily Evans-Potter, and yet he never talked to her outside his class, because he had no idea how. He never knew how to talk to children, which was ironic since he was a teacher, but every time he tried, his courage got lost somewhere on the way.

“What do you think, Severus?” Minerva asked worried.

“That this is no prank from a certain arrogant blonde Slytherin, as was no doubt your first thought.” The man answered sourly, thinking about the Malfoy heir; it was also his first idea, but he quickly discharged that line of thinking, it was a little too overt for him. If he tried anything else, next time would be more discreet, making sure nothing could tie it back to him. Not that Snape would let him get that far.

The brat was a pain in the ass and he had no problem pointing that out to Lucius. Old friends or not, he would not tolerate bullies or cruel people in his house and he made that very clear to the other man. No matter how much he tried to spin the story in his son’s favor, Lucius eventually realized that the boy he remembered from his past, grew up in a strong, stubborn man determined to do the honorable thing until the end, if that was possible.

His past was the problem as always. Many have been those that believed Severus Snape would have only one road in life, to become a Death Eater. They never thought to ask themselves if that was what he wanted. Minerva McGonagall did and to his shock she also asked him. The only things he wanted in his life were his potions and to make sure Lily was happy. 

Minerva helped him with the first wish. She send him to her cousin, in the US, at the Salem Institute for Magick, to further his studies on potion making. When she contacted him, about three years in his master degree to tell him that Lily wanted to meet him even though they corresponded through letters every week, he got the surprise of a lifetime. She put this little bundle in his arms that made him freeze as the young Hayley opened her green eyes and giggled at him. 

James and Lily explained the need for secrecy even from the Marauders, their friends. The dark lord was after them and possibly after Hayley as well. A prophecy made by an unknown seer that a child born at the end of the seventh month would be his downfall, marked Hayley. Severus tried to get them to move to America with him and stay there for the rest of their lives in order to protect the innocent child from the clutches of an insane megalomaniac, but they were confident in the Fidelus charm. 

They still made him promise to watch over her should anything happen to them. James said they were covering all their bases, joking that when he made Sirius, Hayley’s godfather, he forgot how much of a child the other man could be.

As Severus feared, they were too confident in the world.

Three weeks later they were dead and Hayley was spirited away Merlin knows where. 

Severus begged Dumbledore for the potion job at Hogwarts, and after Minerva convinced Horace Slughorn to retire, the headmaster had no recourse but to hire him. When the wizarding world found that out, there was a lot of bad press. Severus did the most muggle thing he ever did since stepping foot in the wizarding world: he sued all the publications that tried to discredit him and won all across the board, getting awarded fabulous sums of money, but he started teaching later that year.

And until she came to Hogwarts, he had no idea where the little girl was hidden. Then he suspected that Dumbledore send her to Petunia, Lily’s sister. If that was true, then as soon as the year was finished, he was petitioning the Wizarding Child Services to gain custody of her. And with Minerva and Poppy in his corner he was confident he was going to win. The hell with Dumbledore and his plans!

Looking at the headmaster, who just slipped into the infirmary, Minerva and Severus exchanged a look that didn’t bode well for their old teacher.

“Do you know what’s going on, Albus?” Minerva asked serious.

“I do not, but I have several theories. But I’ll only speculate after Madam Pomphrey finishes the examination.”

Severus cursed Dumbledore several times in the privacy of his own mind. The old man had the tendency to do whatever he wanted, and keep those cards he could wield close to vest. He never trusted Severus to what was important, thinking that he was after revenge for what James did when he was young. He never knew they made their peace a long time ago. Wasn’t he in for a rude awakening!

Still, the three teachers stood as patiently as they could, waiting for the matron to finish all the medical spell and potions on her young charge. Minerva was glancing at the clock every minute, Severus was clutching his wand tightly beneath his dark robes and Dumbledore was eating through lemon drops like they were going out of fashion. A few minutes later, the Medwitch turned to Hermione, said something quietly to her ear and walked towards the gathered professors as the girl slipped into an empty chair and started to talk to the other girl.

“It’s not good, headmaster. Her internal temperature is 20°C and continues to drop. The only things keeping her from slipping into hypothermic shock are her magic and her will. But even her magic is being syphoned away, little by little.” The matron said worried.

“What is causing it?” Minerva asked.

“The soulmate mark. It’s active.”

The soulmate mark was a unique and intriguing part of the wizarding world.

It was the impression of a witch’s or wizard’s soulmate’s palm, at the base of the neck spanning across the shoulder blades. In the beginning it’s nothing more than a shadow, barely there, but during adolescence, it darkens to a vivid coral color, than finally turns red when the two soulmates finally meet for the first time. No one can explain the reason for the soul mark, or why the magic decided that it would be a good idea for everybody to know exactly the most perfect person for them, but the wizards and witches weren’t questioning it anymore. Strangely enough, it didn’t matter if the soulmate was wizard or muggle, woman or man, and over time it made for some interesting pairings.

“What do you mean, it’s active?” Severus demanded to know.

“Exactly what it means, Severus.” The Medwitch cast a dark look towards her younger colleague. “It’s dark coral, almost red. She hasn’t meet her soulmate, I’m certain of that but we must find him quickly, because I’m pretty sure he’s the one in danger of hypothermia! He’s drawing her magic away!”

“It’s that even possible?!” Minerva asked surprised. “I have heard of soulmates drawing after they met, but not before!”

“There have been cases.” Albus told them quietly. “In times of great need and magical exhaustion there have been a couple of people that drew on their soulmate before they knew who it was and they were able to survive some extraordinary circumstances.”

“Like the killing curse, headmaster?” the potion master glared at the older man.

Severus had long suspected that the whole thing with the protective wards based on her mother sacrifice was nothing more that the innocent invention of Albus Dumbledore to keep the Death Eaters away from Hayley. Magic works unseen and if somebody believes in something, then that something is true. If the Death Eaters believe they can’t touch or find Hayley Potter wherever Dumbledore secreted her, then they won’t. 

Not to disrespect Lily’s sacrifice, but something else, more powerful helped Hayley survive that night, in addition to her mother’s protection. If her soulmate was powerful, it became easy to imagine her magic latching onto his and drawing enough energy to help the toddler survive.

“Perhaps, Severus!” the headmaster said, his eyes twinkling cheerfully. Severus scowled, barely refraining from sending a rather nasty curse right between the man’s eyes.

“But that means she initiate the bond when she was eighteen months old!” McGonagall said, shocked.

“And it’s true.” Hermione said, coming next to the professors when she heard the discussion. “She had no idea that the mark means anything until Lavender and Parvati were talking about theirs.”

“So, it was always coral?” Severus asked curious.

“Yes, ever since she could remember, so she never made a big deal about it. But from time to time, she … I don’t know … loses time, or wakes up suddenly in a different part of the building than she intended. She said she always sees a man in her dreams. Tall, with black hair and green eyes, that’s dressed in a strange shiny armor. She tried to draw him, but she doesn’t have enough talent.” Hermione explained.

They were astounded. McGonagall, the most having never heard of such a thing before. It almost went against everything she knew about the soulmate mark. She was always under the impression that they could nothing more than just help you identify the person you are meant to spend the rest of your life with. 

“So, it’s Hayley’s soulmate that’s freezing somewhere. We must find him!” McGonagall said after her world stopped spinning around her. 

“We don’t have a way. We can’t exactly look everywhere in the world with below freezing temperatures for a black haired green eyed man dressed in armor!” Dumbledore pointed out rationally.

“But we can’t let them die!” the transfiguration teacher protested.

“We don’t have to.” Severus said quietly, remembering something. “When I was in America, one of my colleagues told me that her mother cast a spell to find her soulmate, after she felt him getting hurt and disappearing. The mother cast the spell on the bond between them, not on her soulmate.”

“Then we should do that, it’s no different than placing a tracking charm on a familiar bond.” Madam Pomphrey said, turning around and quickly start preparing another bed.

“Severus, can I ask you to bring him here?” Albus said looking at his potion master. “I will cast the spell that can track him down, but I’m afraid that will take away most of my energy. I need you to go and find him and then apparate directly here.”

Severus and Minerva knew that this is the opening they have been waiting for since the beginning of the year. They knew the headmaster was right. Casting a tracking charm on a bond he wasn’t a part of, will take most of his energy and the headmaster will be forced to recover for more than a week. That was more than enough time for them to put forward their own plans concerning Hayley.

“Of course, headmaster.” The potion master replied, trying to keep his voice neutral.

Dumbledore drew his pale wand, going next to Hayley and waving the wand in a complex series of movements, runes shimmering gently around the small girl. As the glowing runes gently turned around, time seemed to stretch, but finally a location appeared above her: 1267 miles, East by North East.

Severus quickly memorized the coordinates, and quickly made his way to the front gate, where the edge of the wards began. He drank a specialized potion that would temporarily increase his magical reserves to make sure he could make the leap and bring the man back, he was no slouch in the magical reserves category, but he never tested his limits, so it was better to be safe than sorry. He hoped that the headmaster’s calculation held true and took a deep breath and disappeared with a little ‘pop’.

When he reappeared, the first thing he noticed was the cold. Bitterly cold, with a freezing wind blowing his robes away. He was on a beach surrounded by sand and sea, illuminated by the frail light of the half moon. No wonder Hayley was hypothermic if she was feeling everything her soulmate was feeling.

Looking around Severus couldn’t see anything at the first glance. There was nothing around him, but dunes of sand and the frigid water. But at the second glance he saw a cloth rustling in the wind. It was covering a small dune that actually was the man he was send to bring back to Hogwarts. As fast as he could he crossed the beach and dropped to his knees next the man, turning him from his side to his back. 

Well, Hayley was a very lucky young girl, Severus thought with a smirk. There were going to be a lot of broken hearts around these two. The man was very handsome and Severus was not ashamed to admit that to himself. Putting a hand to his face, he could feel the coldness beneath his palm and knew he had to be very careful bringing him to a more humane temperature.

Putting his arm around the other man’s neck to get the upper body off the freezing ground, the potion master was shocked when he wasn’t able to. He couldn’t even bulge the man. For such a lanky person there was a heaviness to his frame that shouldn’t be there even with the ornate and heavy metal armor. Regarding him with a suspicious eye, Severus cast a feather light charm on the man, raised him over the shoulder and quickly disappeared.

*

The first thought that came to mind when the man from the beach awoke was that he was still alive strangely enough. Not only was he not freezing, but he was lying comfortably in a huge bed, in a warm room. Which was a surprise. Last thing he remembered was the damn beach with the howling winds and the bitter coldness that nearly turned him into an ice statue. 

Opening his eyes he took stock of what was around him. A room, a bedroom he corrected quickly in his mind, dark but warm gently illuminated by the crackling fire in the hearth. He was lying in a bed, but he could see a huge cabinet on his left side and an armchair. There was also a man reading in the armchair.

The man was tall, as far as he could see, with long dark hair, a prominent nose that he could see even in the weak light, dressed in some sort of robes, also dark from what he could see.

“Where am I?” he asked suddenly, making the other man pin him with a stare. 

Severus looked up from his book at the unknown voice and sure enough, his house guest was awake.

“My bedroom, but if you want a place, then Hogwarts, Scotland.” The potion master said, calmly placing a book sign on the page he was reading and closing the book.

“You found me on the beach?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the man on the bed asked suspicious, trying to get up and only then noticing the third person in the room, a small girl tucked into bed with him “And why is there a child in bed with me?”

Severus smirked.

“What’s your name? I have to call you something!” the potion master asked.

“Loki… Freyasson.” The other man answered.

“Well, Loki, when I found you on that beach three days ago, you were hypothermic, stranded on a beach in Norway, of all places, barely alive. Now I don’t care how you ended up there, nor why, but what I can tell you is that you lucked out. My name is Severus Snape, the potion master here, at Hogwarts. You’re currently at a magic school.” He explained when he noticed the man had no idea what he was talking about.

Loki jumped a little. A magic school?! What were the odds that such good fortune would befall him, an Asgardian sorcerer? 

“As for the reason Miss Potter is in bed with you, it has to do with the soulmate mark on your back!” the man said calm, but amused.

“What soulmate mark?” Loki asked suspicious.

“The handprint between your shoulder blades. That’s what our people call a soulmate mark, it identifies the other half of your soul. Do your people not have it?” Severus asked.

Loki was shocked. The man in front of him was very dangerous, smart and powerful if the magic pouring off of him was to be believed. Odin dictated long ago that Aesir must not tell the midgardians about their own abilities or the other realms, but Odin’s rules were usually subjected to his own whims, so he guessed since the man already figure it out, it wouldn’t hurt to be completely honest.

“I wouldn’t know, my race is almost dead. The remaining Jotunns are largely uncommunicative to other races.” Loki answered.

“Jotunns?” Severus asker confused.

“Yes, dwellers of a strange, icy world. I just found out about my heritage and confronted my father.”

“Then why were you freezing on the beach?” Severus asked throwing a suspicious look towards the man on the bed. “If these Jotunns live in a world of ice, you shouldn’t even feel the cold.”

“Because my Jotunn abilities were blocked by my adoptive father who hates Jotunns and nearly drove them to extinction.”

“Lovely man!” Severus bit out sarcastically, causing Loki to swallow a smirk. “As I was saying, to us that mark is paramount to finding our soulmate, the other half of your soul. It starts as a mere shadow, then darkens toward coral during adolescence and finally settling into red when you finally found each other.”

“So, my mark is red?” Loki asked, skeptical of the man’s rather fantastical tale.

“Yes, as it is Miss Potter’s, making you two soulmates.”

“But she’s a child!” Loki protested, hoping to whatever higher being there was out there, he didn’t mean he had to sleep with a small child.

“Don’t be a moron!” Severus bit back at the other man, rolling his eyes skyward. “You won’t be able to feel sexual attraction towards Hayley for several years as it is the case with couples that have a big age difference between them, but who find themselves when one is still a child.”

Loki felt a little better and took a second look at the young girl Severus was insistent was his soulmate. She was small and pretty, with dark hair, waving around her head and pale skin. Since her eyes were closed, he had no idea what color they were, but Loki was willing to bet they were emerald green, the same eyes that he had been dreaming about for the last couple of years. It was one of the reason he actually discovered Odin and Frigga were not actually his parents.

Looking at the man in the arm chair, he realized something. The man must have his own.

“So, where is your soulmate?” Loki asked curious.

“I do not have one.” Severus replied quietly and calmly. “I am one of those incredibly isolated cases that was born without a mark. Therefore without a soulmate. Which wielded two possibilities: either I cannot love, either my soulmate is dead long ago or won’t be born for hundreds of years. Which means I have no way to meet them. The bond knows that and the imprinting doesn’t take place at birth.”

“So, which one is it?” Loki asked curious.

“My soulmate will be born in six hundred years and even with a wizard’s incredibly long life, it would be impossible for me to meet him or her.”

Loki wanted to ask how the man knew that, but there was a note of deep sadness in his voice that made him realize his inquires would only sadden the man even further. He didn’t want that, especially after the man was kind enough not to let him freeze on the beach.

“So, can I stay here? With her I mean?” Loki asked, trying to change the topic of the conversation.

“Yes. Our laws are very clear, once two soulmates find each other and then they cannot be kept apart. So, you really have two choices: either stay as you are and become a member of the staff at school or I could concoct a potion that will regress you back to childhood.” Severus said looking carefully at the other man.

“Which is better?” the Jotunn asked, not bothering to mention that if he wanted he could transform himself into a child.

“For you, I guess the second choice. That way you could learn our magic, Loki – god of mischief!” the potion master smirked, amused that the man in front of him thought he couldn’t figure it out.

“How did you realize?” he asked surprised.

“You, Aesir, need to start giving us, mortals, some credit.” Severus said, smirking softly. “I knew something was off about you from the beach. It was impossible for me to be unable to pick you up, unless you had more mass than you’re frame suggested. Also, your name was a dead giveaway.”

“It has been a long time since I came to Midgard. You have grown!” Loki remarked amused.

“And just think, the wizarding world is about four hundred years behind the rest of the world…”

Severus stopped mid-sentence when Hayley started waking up. She opened her eyes and found another pair of green eyes staring back at her. “Hello.” She said awkwardly.

“Hello.” Loki smiled softly.

“Are you feeling better?” Hayley asked looking only at him.

“I am now.” He answered calmly, feeling like a part of himself that he never knew was missing finally settle down, deep within his being. 

This little girl was going to be everything to him.

 

To be continued…


	2. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the end of the battle, two weary souls talk of the future and remember the past.

Chapter 2

Interlude

May 3rd 1997, Hogwarts, Scotland.

“Good riddance!” Severus said out loud, smugly, sitting in his favorite chair in his room. There was a glass full of fire whiskey by his elbow and a merrily crackling fire in front of him. It was May 3rd 1997 and for the first time in years, he could breathe easily. The snake lunatic was truly dead and Hayley was free of his demented attention.

He thanked whatever god was listening to his prayers, he was able to see this day. Almost seven years earlier when he first saw Hayley he thought he never could. The girl was small, scared and insecure.

Then Loki happened.

At first, most people had no idea what to make of the slender, black haired and green eyed boy that seemed as mischievous as Hayley was serious. When Loki got sorted and ended up in Gryffindor, it become obvious Hayley and him would be together for a long time.

And as time passed and the bond between them deepened Hayley become more outgoing, laughed more and in turn Loki became the class clown to make sure Hayley always laughed. His pranks became quite the problem, and even if Severus found some of them funny, it didn’t stopped him from giving him detention after detention for them.

And it was hard, so very hard to catch the little bastard in the red, which is why Loki had detention every other week instead of every day. Yes, Severus remembered with a smile, Draco looked particularly fetching in that Weasley red hair color, courtesy of Loki after the Slytherin insulted the Weasleys about their lack of money.

That first year was also the hardest.

Albus Dumbledore was a bloody old fool, but he wasn’t senile, yet. Still, Minerva managed to blindside him long enough for Severus and Poppy to gain custody of Hayley and Loki, Minerva and Filius quickly becoming the other two guardians the law required in this kind of case.

Dumbledore was furious when he found out about the move, after Christmas. But Minerva explained that she’d rather pull the two out of Hogwarts entirely than send Hayley back to petunia and about half of the staff stood behind her and Severus on this matter.

“Do you have any idea how many times Artemis wanted me at Salem?!” Minerva said simply, when he brought up the subject during their first weekly staff meeting after the New Year. “Too many times to count. And trust me, I catch you interfering with Hayley, Loki or any of their friends from this moment on, I’m out that door faster than you can blink! And not alone! I’ll see you with half of your staff or less, Headmaster, if that is what it takes to make you back off!” the Transfiguration professor growled.

The lioness was willing to go to such extremes and Dumbledore was aware of that, so he decided to cut his losses and accept it until a better opportunity came along, despite feeling betrayed by one of his oldest members of the staff.

Somehow, Loki found out about the headmaster’s temper tantrum and decided a little lesson was in order. Personally Severus thought that either Minerva or Filius told him what happened, but neither was willing to admit it.

For the rest of the year, Dumbledore was assaulted by pranks so stunning in their novelty, they made the marauders look like five years playing at being pranksters. Everybody suspected Loki, but nobody could prove it, leading Severus to believe the little brat let himself caught on purpose to stoke his ego.

Then the world turned upside down.

Voldemort was still alive.

And the Golden Trio figure it out when they went to stop Quirrell from taking the Philosopher Stone.

After they managed to escape alive by the skin of their teeth and realizing the difference between the sides, Loki was the one that proposed to start training over the summer vacation for the eventual fight with the snake faced bastard (Loki’s words, but Severus agreed). Loki started to train the girls physically, while all three got advanced magical training from their guardians at the Scottish witch’s cottage, where they were staying over the summer.

Then came the rest.

The second year brought yet another incompetent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and a basilisk. Although they didn’t knew about the beast until the end of the year, which was the trend with these three. Loki and Hayley slayed the beast, and the moron of Lockhart thought it might be a good idea to mind wipe Loki. Thank god for the thick hide of the Jotunns, that turned the spell towards his caster and send Lockhart directly to St. Mungo’s long term care.

Third year brought Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. The first wasn’t a problem, as he was the DADA professor and quickly warned to stay away from Hayley, but Black escaped prison to get to Hayley. However, just like before, the end of the year brought out the truth: Sirius Black was innocent and Peter Pettigrew was the one that betrayed the Potters. It took a great deal of pride for Severus to be the one that brought him in the ministry for questioning.

It also had the single greatest moment of his life when Hayley slammed down her ‘dogfather’ for being the moron he was after her parents’ death and refused quite loudly to go live with him despite Black being a free man, now with Pettigrew’s detention.

Forth year was a joke from beginning to end, and it was also the year that tested Severus’ resolve not to drink during school year. Hayley’s participation in the contest in the Triwizard Tournament was loudly protested by Loki, there was nothing they could, even with Hayley willing to be interrogated under Veritaserum about the entry. In the end she managed to not only win it, but also drag Voldemort back to Hogwarts to show the world he was back. Unfortunately the bastard managed to escape before being seen by the minster, and so brought the problems of their next year.

The fifth year meant the Ministry officially denying Voldemort was back, despite the numerous eye account witnesses, so in order to make sure Hayley doesn’t ruin their reputation, they send someone to close her mouth, under the guise of overseeing Hogwarts. Umbridge lasted about two weeks, until she tortured Hayley. That night she disappeared and she was never seen again.

“What were you expecting, Severus?” Loki asked coldly, when the professor cornered him in one of their usual detentions. “That woman was not going to back down so making her disappear and stay gone was the only way to ensure Hayley’s safety.”

“What did you do to her, Loki?” Severus asked resigned almost knowing the answer. 

“Turned her into bronze permanently and then transfigured her into one of the statues in the ministry atrium! They haven’t even seen the difference!” Loki smirked nastily. 

Severus almost forgot that despite being a teenager now, Loki was actually one of the most powerful sorcerers that came out of the Asgardian halls. His magic was incredible, mostly because unlike the human one, it was permanent, no matter what was tried afterwards. He decided to stop asking him questions if he didn’t liked the answers and brought the next point he wanted to talk to him about.

Mind Magicks. 

It was somewhat reluctantly that Severus taught them Legilimency and Occlumency. Not because they wouldn’t need them, but because he wasn’t sure if they had the trust in him needed for this kind of Arts. But in the end, he didn’t needed to worry, the three of them taking to his teaching like they born to do so. 

Which of course caused a spectacular row in the headmaster’s office between him and Black when the ex-convict found out about them. Loki was the one that closed that discussion, by transforming into his Jotunn form for the first time ever and literally freezing Black in place. The almost four meters tall Jotunn was a thing to be admired and feared, but Severus and Hayley weren’t afraid of him, because Loki would never hurt them.

“Not only are you a moron, but you are also unable to think for yourself!” the huge form also had a deeply growling voice to go with the air of menace it exuded. “You actually think you can be a better guardian for us?! Why? Because Hayley’s parents said so? Doesn’t matter anymore! You keep forgetting that Hayley doesn’t come alone, I come with her and considering how much you screwed up until now, there’s no way I’m going to let her live with you, no matter what the law might say!”

“And you think Snivilius is a good guardian?” Black said, although there was a genuine strand of fear entering his voice. 

“And that’s exactly why we don’t want you to become our guardian.” Hayley said quietly. “Loki, please turn back. You’re causing my neck to strain!”

The young man grumbled and did as she requested. He took his seat next to her, taking her hand into his.

“Let’s get this out of the way, once and for all, Mr. Black. And I don’t want you to interrupt me, and when I finish I’ll leave and you will not stop me.” Hayley was dead serious, pinning him with her bright green eyes. “You’re still a child, too young mentally to take care of anyone. You’re still stuck in the past, when everyone else grew up. Uncle Remus said the same thing to you when you parted ways two years ago, but his words didn’t reach you. Perhaps mine will. I refuse to even talk to the man that left me alone in the care of those people when I actually needed him the most. Severus is the man that start making plans to get me out from petunia’s guardianship the moment he saw me and I trust him with my life, Loki’s life and my friends’ lives and I know I won’t be disappointed. You are nothing but a petty bully who think people should just fall at your feet just because you’re Sirius Black. Maybe my parents named you my godfather, but it was Severus they went to when they needed help. So from this moment on, you will not try any means of communication with me or my friends, or anyone else that might give information about me. If I have to I will go to the appropriate channels to make the request legit.”

And as promised, Hayley and Loki got up and left. Turning back to look at his childhood tormentor, Severus couldn’t help but pity him. He looked a little bit broken.

“If you’re willing to change your life, there are ways.” Severus told him sincerely. “You spend 11 years mentally tortured every day and that’s not a thing you can get over quickly. Nowadays, there are people that can help you. Not in the Wizarding World, of course, since wizards prefer to sweep under the rug those that cannot cope. But if you really want, I know someone, the wife of a Ravenclaw that is a medic specialized in this kind of trauma and who is well aware of our world.”

“Why would you do that?” Sirius asked, disbelief and hope warring in his eyes.

“Because I know what it’s like to stare into the dark and think it’s the only way until someone pulls you back.” The potion master told him, looking straight into his eyes and then leaving just as quietly as his children. 

Black eventually did go for bi-weekly therapy sessions with Angela Faircraft, and it was because Severus knew of them that Severus prevented Hayley from going to the ministry when the young witch came in one day with Hermione and Loki, babbling about visions send by Voldemort. They didn’t went to the ministry, but in the end it didn’t matter. The minister saw the dark Wizard this time and could no longer deny, after the snake bastard’s temper tantrum blew up half of the Atrium and he lingered long enough to be spotted by a lot of people including the cowardly minister.

The sixth year was somewhat of a respite, until Dumbledore got into his head that Severus should kill him. Not the brightest idea, since Severus wasn’t a member of the Order of the Phoenix and when he heard the idea just laughed and left, reminding the aged wizard he actually wasn’t one of his minions.

By the end of the seventh year, Dumbledore was quietly dyeing, in his home in Godric’s Hollow, Severus was the new Headmaster and all the horcruxes had been quietly destroyed to make sure the Dark Bastard doesn’t realize what was happening, all except the one that no one knew about, the one in Hayley. It was the thing that actually kept her alive when the second death curse came hurling towards her, when she decided to sacrifice herself, thus killing the old snake bastard once and for all.

By some miracle, they actually won. His neck still tingled with the aftermath of the snake bite. He scowled. He had to remember to thank Lucius Malfoy for telling the Dark Moron where to send the snake after him, since it was one of the things that Voldemort was bragging about before his third death curse against Hayley rebounded.

“Well, that’s a face I’m familiar with!” McGonagall said, limping into the room. The curse that got her high on her hip thanks to Amicus Carrow was going to heal, but it will take a while and she’ll always have a slight limp. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Severus asked, pointing towards the other armchair in front of the fire and pouring a good measure of whiskey in another glass and sending it her way. 

“Resting is for the weak or the dead! I am neither!” she told him deadpan, reminding him she was a great witch, not just another professor.

“How are they?” Severus asked, not needing to say who they were.

“Sleeping. They were exhausted. They piled high on Loki’s bed in the Gryffindor Tower and I made sure nobody is going to disturb them until they are ready to come out.” She shrugged.

“It’s over.” Severus said somewhere between relief and disbelief.

“It certainly is.” Minerva relied in almost the same tone. “You know there have been times when I thought we’ll never do right by those kids!”

“Especially with Dumbledore and the mutt at every corner trying to turn Hayley against me!” the headmaster said; the enmity with Sirius Black faded away into something that could never be called true friendship, but they could now spend time together without coming to blows.

“Against us, you mean!” Minerva corrected him sternly. “We raised those three together!”

“I thought we were talking about Hayley and Loki here!” Severus drawled, sarcastically.

“If you haven’t noticed that Hermione comes to you with her crazy ideas like she would a parent, then you you’re blind and stupid!” Minerva told him bluntly.

Severus winced at her sharp tongue. He did notice. But Hermione had her own parents, while Hayley and Loki didn’t. It was strange to parent someone that could just go to her parents for advice. But being a muggle born, he guessed he was the closest one to her parents’ age she could take her magical problems to.

“What news from the Ministry?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Last I heard, Loki, Hayley and Hermione were to be awarded Order of Merlin, First Class and Scrigemour is offering them acceptance into the Auror Program.”

“He’s in for a disappointment!” Severus snorted, amused; he could already imagine the look on the Minister’s face at the resonating ‘NO!’ he was going to get from those three. “Loki is very distrustful of any authority, as for Hayley and Hermione, they have seen enough stupidity on the Ministry’s side to be certain that isn’t the place for them.”

“I wonder what they are going to now?” Minerva asked with the melancholic tone of teachers everywhere.

“Marriage for Hayley and Loki.” Severus answered her.

“They talked to you?” Minerva said surprised.

“Yes, a while ago.”

What Severus didn’t told the older woman was that the reason he knew was because Hayley wanted a small Catholic ceremony and she asked him to walk her down the aisle. His throat still closed up whenever he thought about that moment.

 

“It makes sense, you are the closest to their parent’s age!” Minerva said sagely, not seeing the look on Severus’ face.

“Hayley wants to see the world and Loki is more than just willing to do so.”

“And Hermione?”

“She’s going to get her parents, restore their memories and then she’ll wait a year for Hayley and Loki for them to start equivocating their studies in the muggle world.”

“They don’t plan to stay in the Wizarding World?” Minerva asked, but she wasn’t surprised.

“Would you?” Severus asked pointedly. “For Hayley, this world brought her on the radar of an insane megalomaniac, the same one that killed her parents and the people seemed to oscillate between loving and hating you! Not the fondest memories!”

“true.” Minerva agreed with a grimace she saw mirrored on the man’s face.

“At least in the muggle world they will be able to start from the ground up.”

“I’m going to miss them!” the transfiguration professor said fondly.

“I’m not!” Severus snorted. “I had Loki in detention more than anyone in my career, including the infernal Weasley twins, and he treated then like social visits!”

“He keeps you on your toes, Severus!” Minerva teased him gently.

“Perhaps, but I’m going to be relieved to have him send to Cambridge. Have the professors there deal with him for a change!”

“He decided what he wants to study?” Minerva asked surprised.

“Thermonuclear astro-physics, apparently!” Severus relied drily, but seeing Minerva’s blank look, he quickly explained. “It’s a branch of science that studies stars and things from space.”

“And Hayley and Hermione?”

“It’s Psychology and Sociology for Hayley and Political and International Studies for Hermione.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?” Severus asked back surprised.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked looking straight at him, with the expression that had him conditioned since he was a child to tell the truth.

“I’ll stay as a Headmaster, at least until I find a replacement.” The Potion master told her calmly. “But I want to go back to my experiments, Minerva. Being both a Potion master and the headmaster of a school like Hogwarts is impossible, however, so in 5-10 years I will retire. Are you sure I can’t tempt you with the perks of the job?”

Minerva snorted. She heard that question in one form or another for almost a year. 

It came as a surprise that after Dumbledore retire because of his failing health, the door of the office opened solely for Severus, no matter how much the Ministry tried to have their own man there. But he couldn’t even get past the wards at the gates. 

She knew however why the castle chose him. He wasn’t a part of either the Death Eaters or the Order of the Phoenix and was as impartial as he could when it came to the students. It must have left a sour taste in Dumbledore’s mouth not to have Minerva as a successor but he forgot the most important rule: that Hogwarts itself chooses its headmaster and the magic of the castle was sentient.

“For the future?” Minerva asked, raising her glass.

“For the future!” Severus answered.

 

To be continued…


End file.
